The People Factor
Strengthening America by Investing in Public Service
by Linda J. Bilmes and W. Scott Gould
Facing its greatest domestic challenges since the Great Depression, America is waking up to the realization that government is still important. In their new book, The People Factor: Strengthening America by Investing in Public Service, Harvard professor Linda J. Bilmes and IBM Vice President W. Scott Gould argue that the country cannot prosper without a strong, highly functioning federal work force to manage the government. The authors call for an investment of $10 billion to improve recruiting, training and management of the federal workforce predicting that investment will yield $300-$600 billion in productivity gains. Packed with cost and performance data as well as new research on what motivates applicants for government jobs, these former government executives provide a compelling business case for investing in the civil service so that it may better serve the nation. A must read for policy makers, civil servants and citizens who demand more from government.
The Authors
Professor Linda J. Bilmes is a lecturer in public policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a nationally recognized expert on public finance. She is coauthor with Joseph Stiglitz of the New York Times bestseller, The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict. She has served as CFO and Assistant Secretary for Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce and as a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group.
W. Scott Gould is vice president, public sector strategy and growth, at IBM Global Business Services. He has also served as CFO and Assistant Secretary for Administration at the Department of Commerce and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for finance and management at the Treasury Department. Gould is a captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve (Ret.) and a former White House fellow.
Advance Praise for The People Factor "In recent decades, we have allowed the quality of public service in America to deteriorate badly and we are all paying the price. Bilmes and Gould have written exactly the right book at exactly the right time—a thoughtful, wise plan for overhauling government that will inspire a new generation of men and women to serve their country." —David Gergen, Professor of Public Service and director of the Center for Public Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School "I devoted thirty-eight years in uniform to building competent organizations that perform at the highest levels, even in the midst of crises when senior leaders might be changed out on short notice. The People Factor trumpets brilliantly the critical need to make similar investments in our federal workforce. By providing the requisite training, equipment, and leadership development, our federal workforce can perform the way Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coastguardsmen do—selflessly and mission focused." —General Eric K. Shinseki, U.S. Army (Ret.) "Ultimately our welfare as a nation depends on the quality of our government, and government in turn cannot be better than the people who staff it. Government staffing rarely makes the front pages but it is profoundly important to our future. This important book shows how we as a country can do much better." —Lawrence H. Summers, Director of National Economic Council "The People Factor is focused on how the government can achieve a better return on its most valuable asset—federal employees. It is a high-quality, comprehensive, and timely work on a topic that is little understood—but vital for the future well-being of our government." "Good government starts with good people. Bilmes and Gould provide a thoughtful and compelling primer on why our next president needs to take that principle to heart." —Max Stier, President, Partnership for Public Service "The shortage of good people is the single biggest limitation on good government today. In Washington’s welter of transition-year policy books, none takes on a more important subject, or deserves more attention from the new administration, than The People Factor." —Ashton Carter, Harvard University, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy
—David Walker, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and former Comptroller General of the United States
Learn more about The People Factor.
